


Coming Home

by Cow_ard_Me



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 23:09:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29090328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cow_ard_Me/pseuds/Cow_ard_Me
Summary: What's home? Is it place? If it is, how do you know you have found it?Inspired by two scenes in 2x02. Not sure why, but the scenes talked to me and this came out.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Comments: 8
Kudos: 89





	Coming Home

He was creating issues where he shouldn’t and he was aware of it, but he just couldn’t help it. He kept thinking that the fact that he knew this was not okay was improvement on itself, but was it? Or was he just making excuses for his behavior or trying to make himself feel better?

Sometimes he seriously hated the program; it forced him to look into himself, look deeper than he was comfortable with. However, the program worked, nobody knew it better than he did; it had worked in the past and it was working again. 

If his sponsor knew what was going on right now and the thoughts that were worrying him, he would scold him because he hadn’t actually followed the program as he should have. He should have never gotten into a relationship within the first year after his relapse.

TK was conscious of that; he even understood why such restriction existed. TK was not looking for a relationship when he hooked up with the incredibly sexy cop who had asked him to dance at the bar. Back then he needed to get laid; TK is a sexual being, he needed sex, and God was the cop hot!

What TK hadn’t counted on was the fact that the cop was not just hot, but caring. TK didn’t know what to do with that; he was used to his father caring, but that was kind of his dad’s job as a father. Nevertheless, TK now recognized that he had given so much weight to the sexual side of himself that he hadn’t really paid much attention to whether or not he himself was being taken care of.

He had never thought it should be necessary for someone else to take care of you, and he still didn’t see it as a necessity, but it felt good. Having someone care for you, not because it’s their job, but just because they want to, gives a different kind of fulfillment. And he wouldn’t say it’s better than sexual fulfillment–he’s still a sexual individual, but it’s right up there.

And Carlos? Carlos had been so patient, so damn patient it sometimes frustrated TK because he was still putting walls up, and Carlos was still there patiently waiting to be let in. How was TK supposed to resist such charm, such warmth, such insane goodness? He just couldn’t, so he didn’t fight it for long. It had been the right choice–he was sure of it. He didn’t remember being this happy, this comfortable. Carlos was worth breaking the rules for.

Still, breaking the rules always came with consequences, and he was facing some of those now. He couldn’t push out of his mind the fact that Carlos didn’t seem to want him to meet his parents. TK didn’t know why Carlos appeared to be reluctant even to talk about the topic, and all of TK’s insecurities were coming out and beginning to make him feel unworthy. This is why the program advised against romantic relationships within your first year of sobriety–you could start spiraling out of control and feel the need to go back to whatever made you feel numb.

No, TK wasn’t thinking about drugs, not right now. He was in pain, in a lot of pain. They had lost someone today; they had lost Tim. He needed comfort; he wanted Carlos’ comfort, and he was battling with what to do. He had a key to Carlos’ place, and Carlos had always made it abundantly clear that TK could come over whenever he wanted without a previous call or anything.

TK smiled in spite of himself when he remembered that after the third time he’d called and asked if he could come over, Carlos had just laughed over the phone and said, “Ty, why on earth would I give you a key if I didn’t want you to come over whenever you felt like it?”

Was it wise, though? Was it for the best to let himself keep on getting so attached to his–he was his for now–wonderfully caring cop? Carlos didn’t seem inclined on introducing TK to his parents just yet. Was he ashamed of TK? He honestly didn’t want to go there. Carlos had been the one to ask, “What are we? Are we even a ‘we’?” back when TK was doubting absolutely everything. Had anything changed during these months together?

No, he was not going to allow himself to go there. He was not going to tangle his mind on his own fears. Carlos had been patient with him from the beginning; TK could be patient as well. Carlos probably had his reasons. Carlos himself had said, “If it’s not meant to be, it’s not meant to be.” Well, TK was going to give it his own spin: “If it was meant to be, it was meant to be.” He would meet Carlos’ parents when the time was right.

For now, though, he was hurting and he needed Carlos’ steady presence. His boyfriend hadn’t pulled away or been distant at all, and he had given him a key; tonight, TK was going to use it. 

When he walked in, his heart soared. He should have known because Carlos is caring as hell, but he didn’t expect him to be there on the stairs waiting for him, with that understanding look on his very handsome face. He had heard about the accident, the tragedy; TK didn’t know how Carlos knew, but he did, and he had been there waiting for TK to come home.

He knew he should be freaking out about thinking of Carlos’ place as home, but there was no place for freaking out now, not when walking right into those waiting arms felt safer and more welcoming than anything had felt in a really long time. He was home, and he would work on bettering himself; maybe someday Carlos would also feel at home while in TK’s arms.


End file.
